Post
by meredith2 » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:36 pm
While I disagree with Siggi that the op's application represents an abuse of 'diplomatic privilege' it's certainly the case that a number of technical loopholes around exemption do allow a far easier pathway to nationality than is widely understood. I thought it might be worthwhile to post my experience here (of course these circumstances will apply to only a few hundred families in any one instance but it may nonetheless be of interest more generally).
In 2000, when still under 18, I entered the UK along with my parents and younger siblings after my father accepted a position at an international organisation based in London. We were automatically granted partial exemption from control under section 8(4) of the Act (see IDI on the subject). This differs from the total exemption enjoyed for example, by diplomats attached to national missions in London etc.
This is critical, because while time spent totally, rather than partially exempt does not count towards the nationality clock (though oddly it neverthless does towards the Long Residency Concession), this is not true of those enjoying partial exemption. The quick witted among you will have spotted the obvious loophole.
Since barring marriage provisions the Nationality act requires 5 years residence of which one must be free of immigration control, those who have been partially exempt for five years are technically eligible to apply for nationality as obviously, in a sense as someone exempt, one does not have a time limit imposed on one's stay (though it is of course implied that that privilege ends when a person leaves the job that affords them that right).
This was a bit of a shock to us. We had gone to an Immigration solicitor simply to seek advice on whether we'd be eligible for the LRC in 2010. By a happy coincidence, his firm was one of the only in London fully versed in this aspect of the law. Obviously we went for it, and were naturalised in 2006. Though it's not necessary to have legal advice, it is rather technical and our application was accompanied by about nine pages of legal advice citing the relevant precedents. I'm not at liberty to share it online as it is the work of a barrister, for which we spent a considerable amount of money, but if anyone thinks this situation applies to them, I'm happy to provide the firm's details privately.
To be perfectly honest, while I'm glad that we benefited from this provision (I've always been in love with this country, and plan to spend my life here) it does strike me as unfair that we were able to go from entrance to naturalisation without any of the FLR/ILR hurdles that most migrants have to negotiate. Indeed, the barrister who drafted the legal position has on numerous occasions raised this anomaly with the Home Office, but apparently, because it benefits only a few hundred individuals in any decade (most partial exemptees are either unaware or disinclined to apply) they are not minded to do anything about it. Anway, just another anecdote from the labrynths of British Nationality Law!
